This invention relates to a cabinet used to enclose or partially enclose a work piece in order to blast at least part of the surface with a particulate material, and in particular, the invention relates to a cabinet that is mounted on a track system to provide lateral movement of the cabinet for accessing different areas of the surface of the work piece.
It is well known that surfaces of parts may be treated by such techniques as blast cleaning, peening, abrading, etc. Such treatments are typically accomplished by projecting abrasive particulates, such as steel shot, grit, sand, plastics and the like, against the surface to be treated with necessary velocity and exposure time to accomplish the desired treatment effect. The abrasive particulates may be projected against the surface by means of air pressure blasting or by airless means, for example, such as a centrifugal blasting wheel.
It is also known that a cabinet may be provided in which to place the part to be blasted. Such a cabinet provides a controlled environment and containment for the blasting process. That is, the abrasive particulates that are used to blast the part can be contained within the blast cabinet for reuse and to minimize cleanup.
It is desirable to minimize the size of a blast cabinet for portability and space considerations; however, parts to be blasted may be longer than the blast cabinet. Accordingly, it is known to provide one or more openings in a blast cabinet with a seal arrangement, such as brushes through which an elongated part may have a surface to be cleaned contained within the cabinet, but a portion of the part extends through the openings. The seal members help maintain any blasting material that is projected towards the openings within the cabinet.
It can be cumbersome to move and readjust the part in the blast cabinet to blast another portion of the surface area of the part that was initially protruding out from an opening in the cabinet. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a mechanism and method for easily locating or relocating a portion of the part in the blast cabinet to be blasted. In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a track system in which the blast cabinet can be readily translated along the length of the part to blast different surface areas of the part.